


building blocks

by twistedsky



Category: Teen Wolf (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-02 15:20:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11512098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twistedsky/pseuds/twistedsky
Summary: Tyler leaves Mystic Falls with his friends and builds a non-traditional pack. Eventually, his pack comes into contact with another from Beacon Hills.





	building blocks

**Author's Note:**

> Side pairings include Scott/Stiles, Matt/Isaac, Aiden/Josh, Bonnie/Liv. I decided that Aiden and Josh actually ran off during the Originals season two and linked up with Tyler's pack. Everyone is okay, everyone is alive. It's wildly AU from about season four of Vampire Diaries. I rewrote history, because there's no reason for my favorite characters to be dead in fic.
> 
> Expect canon-typical violence. 
> 
> We're going with Teen Wolf rules for werewolves--only alphas can create other werewolves.
> 
> I hereby dedicate this fic to flyingthesky, whose Jeremy/Tyler headcanons match my own. Also, I don't hate the vampires on Vampire Diaries, I just think my kids have been through a lot.

Being in a werewolf pack when you aren't actually a werewolf is pretty weird.

Then again, being in a pack is somehow much less strange than his life has been in the past--living among vampires who kill constantly and then brood their way to forgiveness and absolution is far worse.

This? This is better.

Jeremy Gilbert lives a simple life these days--during the week, he goes to art school at CCA. On the weekends, he hunts vampires or hangs out with his alpha and the rest of the pack.

It's weird how things can change, he thinks. There was a time that he couldn't stand Tyler Lockwood. Now they're friends, and--and maybe, sometimes, he thinks they might almost be more than that. But he can't follow that thought all of the way down to its natural conclusion.

They live in a house all together. Some of the pack members come and go, and sometimes Jeremy doesn't understand why they come back, but they always do. It's the former hybrids, mostly.

There's something special in Tyler, and they've all seen it. Even now that they've come back from the dead, and they're simply wolves again, they still feel a connection to him. Jeremy knows that it means something, that they don't come back because they have to, but because they want to.

This is why Jeremy stays, and spends little time looking back at Mystic Falls.

Jeremy sends letters to Elena sometimes. It's a little old school, but it helps him to disconnect himself from Mystic Falls, from the past that he left behind.

They can see each other during the holidays sometimes, and when someone gets married, but the Mystic Falls gang will never fully get back together again. This makes him feel a mix of relief and shame, but somehow he thinks he's better off.

Instead, he's formed a new family. Matt, Liv, Luke, Josh, Aiden, Bonnie and Tyler--this is his pack. This is different from anything he has ever experienced before.

They've got witches, a vampire, werewolves, and a human--Jeremy is pretty sure this is the weirdest werewolf pack in existence.

He would, indeed, be wrong.

~~

One day, Matt comes home from his job at the local police station with a silly smile on his face. He's a werewolf now, due to one too many dangerous skirmishes in Mystic Falls. This, at the end of the day, is part of why they chose to leave.

"I met another werewolf," Matt says, and he looks vaguely excited before he grabs a beer from the fridge.

"Well, there are a lot of supernatural creatures out there," Bonnie says with a wry smile. Liv snorts, her feet in Bonnie's lap, and the rest of her draped across the couch.

Liv turns to her girlfriend, "Do you think the new werewolf wants to challenge our alpha? Are we going to have a turf war on our hands? Because I'm pretty we have the advantage." She's joking, but it's happened before. It's ridiculous that some packs don't know how to share.

"You're not the only advantage," Jeremy points out, looking up from a textbook.

Matt just ignores them. "Do I get to tell my story or what?"

"Probably not," Liv says with a smile. It's good to see Liv smile. After her witch family tried to get her and her brother to merge, which would have resulted in her death as the weaker of the two, her brother had instead begged Tyler to turn him. It had solved one problem, and created another little aspect of their pack.

"You have my attention," Jeremy says. "I even stopped studying for you. Of course, Tyler gets home at 8, and then we're going to watch some new paranormal hunting show and make fun of its inaccuracies, so you better get on with it." Matt rolls his eyes, but between the two of them, there's no heat.

"His name is Isaac. He seems nice. His alpha is something called a true alpha, which I've never heard of. Apparently his pack is from some town called Beacon Hills, which is apparently about as batshit as Mystic Falls." Matt plays it off like he doesn't care, even now, but he does. Leaving Mystic Falls had been hard for him.

It had been hard for all of them, but at some point you have to seek out your destiny. Sometimes, it's not where you think it is.

"Sounds nice," Bonnie says. "But we've met other werewolf packs before. I mean, Aiden literally ran away from New Orleans with Josh because of their little Romeo and Romeo love story. It doesn't always end well."

"He just seems cool, Bon," Matt says with a shrug, and he's trying to seem so chill about it that it hits them all at about the same time.

"You like him," Liv says, and Jeremy can't help but agree.

"Maybe," Matt says, but then he smiles, and it blooms out over his face, and something shifts inside of Jeremy.

That ache to be with someone can feel amazing or horrific. It's all a matter of who it is, and what point you look at in the story. There's always an end, after all.

It's at this point that Matt starts telling them about the date that he's going on with this guy Isaac, and eventually other members of the pack come home, including Tyler.

That ache--that yearning feeling inside of him--intensifies.

~~

When this first started off, it was just the two of them. Tyler and Jeremy, off to California. But then Liv had called Tyler, and Tyler had gone back to Mystic Falls. He returned to California with Liv and a newly turned Luke.

It hadn't taken long for Matt and Bonnie to follow--or for them to run into Aiden and Josh, searching for a new, safer family of their own.

They're all starting new lives in this new place, and it has changed everything.

Jeremy has never seen the world as he does now--he feels happier than he's been in a really long time, and he knows that's partially because of his friends, and this pack. But he also knows it's because since this time started, Tyler has never wavered. He's been there, every step of the way. They go out hunting together, and they grocery shop together, and they talk about art.

Jeremy is pretty hopelessly in love with Tyler at this point, and he's just shocked that Tyler hasn't realized it yet.

He's pretty lucky that none of the pack seem to either, though he sometimes thinks a few of them might have guessed. It's easier not to ask, because that's a can of worms he doesn't need to open. He's afraid of what they might say, because Tyler has never indicated that he feels anything but friendship for Jeremy, and the last thing he needs to do is get rejected by the person who is basically his best friend now.

This is when it's hard being a human in an werewolf pack.

This, at least, is a concern he can mention to the others. Matt gets it, since he'd been a human member of a supernatural squad for as long as Jeremy had before everything changed.

"It's not exactly common--actually, it's fucking rare according to the research I've done, but it does happen," Matt tells him. "There are humans in Isaac's pack too. Scott, his alpha, is apparently famous in the supernatural community for having the wildest pack--a kitsune, a werecoyote--even a banshee, Jer. A banshee. I know that we know that all of this stuff exists, but somehow I'm still constantly surprised."

"How are things going with Isaac?" Jeremy asks. "Is it almost time to play meet the pack?"

"I think it's a little soon for that," Matt says.

"It's not too soon for werewolf sex though," Jeremy comments, and he enjoys the flush of Matt's skin. He's blushing, and it's kind of amazing that no matter how much things change, they still stay the same.

"What can I say, Jeremy? I've got the goods."

It's ridiculous, and Jeremy laughs. Hopefully, things work out.

~~

"This is incredible," Tyler says, looking at one of Jeremy's paintings.

Tyler's got a fancy internship at some business firm, and he is wearing possibly the hottest suit Jeremy has ever seen. And he is not talking about the temperature.  
Jeremy is screwed.

He's fucking embarrassing, really.

"It's fine," Jeremy says. "Apparently kind of derivative? My professor doesn't like it much. Thinks I need to face my art, whatever the hell that means."

Tyler laughs, and plops down next to Jeremy on his bed. "Well, you're the art student. You'd know."

It's his third year of art school, and sometimes he's still not even sure this is what he wants. Sometimes it feels like something he loved in another life. But it still makes him happy.

Somehow, he needs to hold onto that feeling, and hopefully everything else will work itself out.

"Hopefully I'll know a little more by the time I graduate," Jeremy says.

"You'll be fine," Tyler assures him, placing his hand on Jeremy's shoulder. It's warm, and solid, and the sensation-equivalent of the feeling of _home_ and _safe_.

"Hopefully, or you'll have to be my sugar daddy forever," Jeremy says, and he's trying to joke about it, but it comes out sounding a little too serious.

Tyler doesn't notice. "This is us, Jeremy. I have money, and this is my pack. I protect it with everything that I have."

It doesn't mean anything to Tyler, and Jeremy knows it. Tyler works hard, but he also has a lot of money from his parents. Even Jeremy has some money set aside, though not as much.

That's what happens when you live through tragedy after tragedy, until there's barely anything left. If you're lucky, there's something left to make a new life with, and that's what they're all trying to do.

Tyler squeezes Jeremy's shoulder, and it brings Jeremy back to the moment. Jeremy tilts his head slightly to the side to look at Tyler.

Whatever he was going to say disappears.

Jeremy just sits there for a moment. Tyler smiles eventually. "Everything is going to work out."

Jeremy has heard different versions of those words a million times, but somehow, he's actually started to let himself believe that.

~~

Jeremy evades a pair of especially nasty teeth with a quick vervain dart, and then sighs. He walks over to the body and pulls out a stake, stabbing it into the heart of the vampire.

"Nice shot," Matt says.

"I think there are more," Tyler says, walking into the room. "There are dead bodies all over the rooms upstairs. I'm guessing there are maybe half a dozen camping out here."

"We can take them," Jeremy says. "We'll set a couple traps."

Matt leans down and lifts up the hands of the vampires. "No daylight ring. They'll be back by dawn."

"Or we'll be back now," Jeremy looks up sharply to see vampires in the doorway, and lifts his weapon.

It devolves into chaos then.

It's easy enough to take down the first five, they're a well-oiled machine. Then, a sixth appears out of nowhere and bits right into Jeremy's neck.

This is unfortunate for the vampire, because Jeremy has a steady diet of vervain. He drinks it in his coffee, masking it with the most potent stuff he's been able to find.

Jeremy still puts a hand up against a wall, breathing in deeply as the vampire collapses.

Matt deals the death blow, and Tyler approaches, putting his hand on Jeremy's neck. "You okay?"

"Fine. I've experienced worse," Jeremy says with a small smile. "I have in fact died before. Multiple times. This is just a scratch."

Jeremy is a little distracted by the feeling of Tyler so close, his hand on Jeremy's neck holding him close.

It's a very brotherly sort of action, which makes Jeremy want to laugh.

Tyler holds his gaze for a little too long, and then nods, backing away and looking around at the bodies.

They'll gather the vampires bodies and dispose of them. They'll take whatever the vampires have collected from the humans they've hurt, return the bodies to their families, and make sure that no one finds out about the seedy underbelly of the world damn world.

This is what brings Jeremy comfort, oddly enough.

~~

Their pack loves a good party.

It's not an every day sort of thing, but from time to time, they like to do things right. They get drunk, they get a little too loud, but the neighbors don't mind, because they get invited too.

Josh's best friend Davina is in town, and so Josh is in a particularly good mood. He's probably the chillest vampire Jeremy has ever met to begin with, and Jeremy isn't too surprised to come home one Friday night to loud music, and a hell of a lot of drunk people.

Jeremy grabs a drink, and lets the music wash over him.

"Hey, Jer--" Matt says, grabbing his shoulder. "I want you to meet my boyfriend and his friends."

Jeremy turns to see a group of new people staring at him with smiles on their faces.

"Boyfriend? Good for you," Jeremy and Matt bump fists. Jeremy turns to the guy holding Matt's arm. "I'm Jeremy, it's great to meet you."

"Isaac," he replies, and boy is he pretty. Matt's got good taste, Jeremy thinks. Look at their little werewolf/werewolf love story. There's a mix of love stories here, and it's like next level romantic politics.

Matt points to a redhead and a brunette. "That's Lydia and Allison, banshee and rogue hunter."

Jeremy waves hello and smiles.

"Malia, a werecoyote, and Kira her kitsune girlfriend," Isaac introduces two other members of his pack.

"I'm Stiles," a guy steps forward and reaches out a hand. "Totally human, but a genius anyway. And this is Scott, our alpha."

Jeremy shakes Stiles and Scott's hands and smiles."It's great to meet you. I figure my alpha is around here somewhere--" he looks around at the group of people.

Scott gives him a careful look, and then smiles. It's a kind smile, and Jeremy has a good feeling about him. "I think he's right there," Scott says, looking over Jeremy's shoulder.

Jeremy turns to see Tyler walk flush up beside him.

Jeremy watches Tyler and Scott with interest.

"I'm Tyler," Tyler gives Scott a careful once-over. "Welcome to our home."

"Thank you for having us," Scott says. "I'm Scott. Your house is incredible."

Jeremy watches as the others sort of wander away to get drunk or find somewhere comfortable to perch. Stiles stays, at Scott's side like Jeremy is at Tyler's.

It feels a little weird, but maybe it's just an alpha wolf thing.

"Why don't I show you around?" Tyler asks, nodding at Scott and Stiles.

They nod and smile, and start to migrate through the party.

Tyler looks back at Jeremy. "Jer--"

Jeremy is startled. "Oh, yeah. Coming."

They do some meet and greets, grab some alcohol, and then wander through the house and head toward the backyard.

They pass by the DJ station, and Tyler introduces them to more of the pack. Josh fancies himself to be a DJ, so he's producing the music, and Aiden and Davina keeping him company.

Once they get into the backyard it's a little quieter, and they get to know each other. It's an odd sensation, like this is more than just a friendship between packs.

And then, Jeremy realizes that it is.

Even now, they're constantly faced with supernatural foes, and the end of the world always seems to be right around the corner. It's the same for Scott, and his pack.

The world is a dangerous place. In the human world, there's good, and there's bad. In the supernatural one, there's more of the same.

Eventually, Tyler and Scott wander off alone to do some purely alpha bonding.

Jeremy looks over at Stiles.

"So how long have you and Scott been together?"

Stiles laughs. "What? No. Why would you think--" Stiles sputters, and Jeremy lets him for a moment, even though it'd be easy to give him relief.

And then--"I meant working together. He said that you're old friends, but I wanted to know how far back it goes. But clearly it's a little more than that."

Stiles sighs. "You got me. We've been best friends since we were kids. He's--sort of the love of my life, and I only realized it a while ago, after I got erased from existence."

Jeremy lifts an eyebrow. "What?"

Stiles presses his lips together tightly and nods. "Yeah, Beacon Hills is kind of the worst."

"Sounds like Mystic Falls," Jeremy says. "I hear the actual devil came to visit once."

"Wild," Stiles says, then smiles. He reaches for another beer and cracks it open. "My friends and I have been through a lot," he says. He looks down at the beer, then over at Jeremy. "I imagine yours have to. I've heard stories from Matt, but--"

"Not the same as living them," Jeremy finishes. "You know, I don't think I would still be alive if I still lived in that town?" He looks up at the stars. "In fact, I know I'd be dead. I died before, actually. Eventually it just got to be too much. And then I had this chance to leave with my friends, and it felt right."

"I get that," Stiles says. "I mean, I'm going to go back to Beacon Hills eventually, but I get the feeling it's a little bit different for you."

"Not all answers are right for everyone, right?" Jeremy asks, and takes a drink. "Is Isaac serious about Matt?"

"I think so, but he can be a little tough to read," Stiles admits. "He's got his damage."

"So does Matt," Jeremy says. "That's why I need to know that he's in good hands. He's family."

Stiles meets his eyes, and studies him carefully. "No guarantees in life but death," he quips. "But Isaac loves him. I can tell."

"Is Isaac planning on going back to your hometown?" Jeremy asks. "Is Matt going to have to choose one day?"

"Everyone has to make a choice eventually. But honestly? I have no idea. Pack is the family you come home to. Doesn't mean you have to be together every day--we've got people back in Beacon Hills, and people across the country. Isaac was in Europe for a while, and then he came back. It's what you do."

Jeremy nods. They have people like that too, and he gets it.

"So I hear you've got some nice toys," Stiles says. "Anything worth sharing?"

Jeremy's lips curve into a smile.

~~

Jeremy likes Stiles genuinely, and Scott seems like an amazing alpha(clearly not as much as his own, but it's hard to compete), and Isaac seems to care about Matt enough that Jeremy doesn't worry about him as much.

The rest of Isaac's packmates seem interesting--in fact, Jeremy and Allison trade some hunter family tips, and share journals, and it's oddly nice.

This feels like the life he was always meant to be.

Which means it's time for something awful to happen.

That is the way this life goes, for better or worse.

Worse, Jeremy thinks, but that's probably the metal pipe a vampire shoved through his midsection talking.

Matt kills the vampire, and then squats down beside Jeremy, pulling off his jacket and pushing it against Jeremy's stomach.

"You're going to be okay," Matt says, but Jeremy's familiar with almost dying, and this definitely feels like that.

It's just the two of them off on a hunt, and honestly? This isn't how he'd expected this night to end. He was expecting that he'd kill some mass murdering vampires, and then head back home for movie night with the pack.

He's bleeding to death right now, and he'd definitely prefer movie night.

"Power Rangers," Jeremy mumbles. "Liv decided we were going to watch Power Rangers."

"What?" Matt is distracted, trying to unlock his phone, but his hands are covered in blood.

They really do need better liquid-resistant screens, Jeremy thinks.

And that's the last thing he does think for a while. The darkness overtakes him, and he passes out.

~~

He awakens to pressure, and he doesn't need to open his eyes to know that his pack is watching him.

Someone's holding his hand, he realizes, and then he tastes blood.

"Come on, Jeremy," he hears Josh say.

Jeremy can't help that intense rush that comes from almost dying, and his eyes burst open and he gasps.

He always used to think that was over-dramatic, but now he's pretty sure that's just normal when you almost die.

It's Tyler, but the way. Tyler is holding his hand.

He meets Josh's eyes, avoiding Tyler's. "Thanks, Josh."

Tyler nods his thanks too, and Jeremy sees him out of the corner of his eye.

Matt looks guilty across the room. He's blaming himself already, Jeremy realizes, and it's going to be another werewolf-human pissing match.

Liv gives him a cookie, Bonnie gives him a hug, and Aiden gives him a fist bump, and then they leave him, because he almost died, and there's still a lot of tension in the room.

And then it's just the three of them--Matt, Jeremy, and Tyler.

"How did this happen?" Tyler asks Matt, and he sounds calm, but his hand is shaking slightly in Jeremy's hand.

"Vampire got the drop on us," Jeremy says, but Tyler doesn't look at him. "It happens."

Tyler is still looking at Matt, and Jeremy sighs.

"You know it isn't his fault," Jeremy says. He turns to Matt. "It's not your fault. I'm a vampire hunter. It happens. This is my life."

Tyler looks at Jeremy now, and Jeremy is forever reminded in times like this of how human he is. He's not a werewolf or a vampire. He's a hunter, but he's human.

They don't talk about this. It goes unspoken. They can't discuss the fact that Jeremy is a little more fragile than everyone else, no matter how much muscle he builds, or how much he trains.

"It's the thing about being the human," he remembers Stiles telling him during a conversation. "And that doesn't ever change."

Tyler steadies himself. "You did good, Matt," he says finally. "I'm glad you're both okay."

Matt nods. "We protect each other," he says. "That's the job."

Tyler lets go of Jeremy's hand and wraps Matt up in a hug.

Jeremy is reminded of the day that Matt became a werewolf. Matt was going to die, and Tyler saved his best friend.

There are days when it feels like everyone thinks that that's going to be his story one day.

And here's the thing--he doesn't hate werewolves. He doesn't have an awful vendetta against him. If he's honest, he's a vampire hunter, but he doesn't even really have an awful vendetta against them. Just the mass murdering ones.

When Matt became a werewolf, it was a leap of faith. It wasn't an easy decision for him, and it was never something he took lightly. He never would have become a vampire, and that much Jeremy knows. It's the same for him--there's some sort of intrinsic difference.

Jeremy doesn't want to be dead, or want to drink blood, or want to kill people.

And yet--being a werewolf is a curse too at the end of the day. Jeremy sits up on the couch, where he'd haphazardly bled.

Matt and Tyler are talking now under their breath. They'd been afraid for him, and this is why he's reminded of the day Matt became a werewolf.

Matt leaves eventually, but not without a quick hug and a pat to the back.

Tyler doesn't leave though. He sits down on the coffee table next to the couch, and he's lucky no one is around to see. They have very clear rules about asses on tables, clothed or not.

"Sorry," Tyler says eventually. "It's been a rough day."

Jeremy nods. "You think?" he chuckles, but he's still in a blood-covered shirt.

This felt closer than he's been in a while to death. His dad was a doctor, and so is his sister, and he knows enough to know that he'd been very lucky with that pole, because he could have been dead before Matt had the chance to take him home. Home had been closer than the hospital, and Josh's blood was faster.

"Yeah," Tyler says. "I care about all of you. You're my family. And after my parents died, I just--" Tyler sighs, and looks down and clasps his hands. "I get scared when people I love are hurt."

That causes a slight pang in his heart, but Jeremy's not going to take it too personally.

There's a history with them that goes all the way back to fighting over Vicki Donovan, and a history even older than that, with Jeremy bugging his sister and her friends.

Things are different now, but nothing changes overnight.

It took them a long time to become friends and build trust, and even longer to get where they are now.

"Everyone does," Jeremy says finally. "Everyone gets scared. It's normal."

"I know, but the lives we live aren't normal," Tyler says. He unclasps his hands, and grows agitated, like he doesn't know what to do with them. "I'm a werewolf. My best friends are almost all supernatural creatures. And you--" Tyler looks up at him, and Jeremy feels his heart clench painfully in his chest. "You're human."

"I'm aware," Jeremy says.

"You know I'd never ask you to become a werewolf," Tyler says. "The pain, the loss of control--it isn't easy. I would never wish that on you. I turned Matt because I had to. I don't want to be in the position where I have to do that to you too."

"You don't have a choice," Jeremy says, shaking his head. "Do you remember when this started? We were partners. You and me."

"I know," Tyler lets out a deep breath. "But it's different now."

"No," Jeremy says, "It isn't."

"It is," Tyler repeats, but he seems to bite his tongue, and doesn't elaborate.

"What's your point, Tyler?" Jeremy asks wearily. "I was looking forward to movie night."

Tyler smiles just barely, and then it fades quickly, like Jeremy didn't quite break through to him. "I'm just trying to say I'm glad you're alive."

"You're doing it in a very dramatic fashion, Lockwood," Jeremy says wryly. "Maybe you should give up business and try acting instead."

Tyler closing his eyes, and rubs the side of his head with a hand. "You're a dick."

"Takes one to know one," Jeremy says to lighten up the moment.

Tyler looks like he wants to say something else, but then he must bite his tongue, because he just shakes his head. "So, Power Rangers?"

"Definitely," Jeremy agrees, and for a brief moment he just smiles at Tyler, and Tyler smiles right back at him.

These are the best and worst moments--the ones where Jeremy believes that Tyler might love him too.

~~

There's a string of supernatural murders in the neighboring cities.

"They're ritual killings," Bonnie says. "I recognize these marks," Bonnie peers down at photos from the crime scene.

"It's old magic," Liv agrees. "Dark. It's not just to gather power, but to--" Liv frowns. "I don't know. I think they're trying to summon something."

"Scott's pack agrees," Tyler says. "Some sort of supernatural creature is trying to open a portal to this plane of existence. Something worse than anything we've seen before."

"That's what we always say," Jeremy says.

"And somehow something worse always comes along," Matt adds. "We need to stop this, before it gets worse. We're about to get our own FBI taskforce. These murders are just piling up."

"Will you continue to have access?" Tyler asks, and Matt nods. "Good. We'll need as much help as we can get, even if they don't know they're working with us. We'll go out in pairs. Scott's pack is patrolling this area," Tyler motions at a map. "We're going to split up and search this area over here--"Tyler moves his hand.

"Splitting up never ends well in horror movies," Josh says.

"You're a vampire," Aiden says, patting his boyfriend's cheek. "I think you'll survive the horror movie."

Tyler rolls his eyes, and Jeremy catches him. They both smile, and Tyler looks back down at the map.

"Let's pair up," Tyler says. "Jeremy and I will take this area--" Tyler grabs a pencil and marks off areas. Tyler gives the team the rest of their assignments, and Jeremy watches him.

~~

They don't find anything the first night, but another killing happens.

There are no leads, supernatural or otherwise.

Whoever is doing this doesn't seem to care about leaving behind evidence, but none of the evidence actually seems to add up to anything.

They start to lose hope after the twenty-seventh death. No leads, no clues that are leading much of anywhere.

"We're never in the right area. We're never in the right place at the right time," Jeremy says. "There's no pattern to these deaths that we can actually figure out, and--" he sighs. "It's starting to feel a little hopeless." Saying it out loud isn't going to help anyone, but he needs to say it, to know that this really isn't just him.

Bonnie pats his shoulder gently as she passes by him. "I know," she says, and he knows that she does.

She's having visions--psychic nightmares about whatever this thing is. But the visions don't ever lead them anywhere, they just take a toll on Bonnie.

They go out almost every night now without any luck.

"It must be one hell of a cloaking spell," Liv says. They keep looking through grimoires, but nothing they try works. "And my family knew cloaking spells." Liv sighs.

"What if we didn't try to lift the cloaking spell?" Lydia asks one day when they're bouncing ideas off each other. "I'm a banshee. I'm drawn to death, but there's something blocking me. What if we tried to include me in it?"

"We'd have to find the point of origin," Bonnie says, but then she frowns. "It'd be next to impossible, but there might be traces left in the ritual sites. Clearly, someone was there, so there has to be some sort of magical imprint beyond the sacrifice itself."

"We can try to tap into that," Liv says with a sigh. "But it's not going to be easy."

~~

In the quest for answers, everyone has to play their part.

Jeremy is watching hours and hours of security footage that Matt got from the department, and he's about ready to fall asleep.

"If I have to look at this for one more second, my brain is going to be fried," Stiles says from his corner in the room. He pulls out an earphone. "I followed the most recent victim around for 36 hours. No one is watching him, nothing strange is happening. He goes into his apartment, and the bakery across the street doesn't catch anyone except the residents of the building."

Jeremy yawns and stretches. "It's going to be another long night."

"You know, it gets like this. You get that brief period of respite, and then--days upon days of trying to save the world against some sort of supernatural evil." Stiles takes a sip of his coffee and frowns. "Do you ever think about becoming a werewolf?"

Jeremy shrugs. "Sure. But--then I choose not to think about it, and move on with my life until the next time that I can't stop thinking about it."

Stiles nods. "Yeah. Me too. I mean, Scott doesn't really like to do it to people without a really good reason, but I'm his best friend. He'd do it if I asked, I think."

Jeremy tilts his head to the side. "That's not the only reason he'd do it," Jeremy says. "I think Tyler would turn me. Since he's done the backbreaking work of turning over and over again so that he's in complete control of the transition--" Jeremy sighs. "I guess if you have the control, it's not so bad. You can help people."

"We already help people," Stiles points out.

"Sure. But maybe we could do more," Jeremy shrugs. "At the same time, this is what I am. I'm human. Maybe that's all I'm supposed to be."

"For now, at least," Stiles agrees. "I guess we can always worry about it later." Stiles smiles.

Jeremy nods. "You know, for the longest time, I thought Matt could never imagine a world where he would be anything but human. He hated vampires so much. All of the supernatural stuff only ever got in the way. Because it's hard. It's more than being human, and it can be overwhelming. But--there's a light side and a dark side of almost everything. It depends on what you choose.

~~

Jeremy has these bad moments when he looks at Tyler and almost gives into the temptation to kiss him.

But it gets a little deeper than that with this soul-crushing pining. It aches so much it almost starts to feel good.

At this point, Jeremy decides it's time to do something about it, because that's not healthy or smart to indulge in.

"Hey, Ty, can I talk to you later?" Jeremy asks as they're all getting prepped for the nightly patrol of the city.

Tyler looks curious, but nods. "If it's important, we can talk now."

"It can wait," Jeremy says. "I'll see you later," he says, and nods at Bonnie, his patrol buddy for the night.

"Ready, Jer?" Bonnie looks over at him, her head cocked to the side.

Jeremy holds Tyler's gaze for a little longer than he should, then turns to Bonnie. "Yeah, ready Bon."

They head to the door, and Jeremy hears "Be careful out there," from Tyler, but doesn't turn around.

"We always are," Bonnie says back, and she pulls on her favorite jacket.

~~

It's funny, in a way,  that they've been looking for these killers for months and when they finally come face-to-face it's because the supernatural serial killers are looking for them.

Or, more accurately, they're searching for humans touched by the supernatural, which funnily includes them both, but wouldn't include werewolves, banshees, or vampires.

"It's so cool that you've been looking for us," a member of the little murder crew says. Jeremy hates these people already, and this annoying douchebag is not helping. "Because we've actually been looking for people like you to sacrifice."

Maybe it's because this kid is clearly at the bottom of the totem pole, but he's very chatty.

Probably because none of the more serious members of this group want to talk to him, so they sent him to annoy their prisoners.

"You can call me Joe," the kid says, "I'm here to make sure you don't escape before we kill you. I think we have to prepare the next spot, because we have to follow the ley lines of power, so that we can create the portal opening."

"Look, Joey," Bonnie says, "Shut up."

The fact that Bonnie isn't magicking them out of whatever hellhole they're in tells Jeremy that she can't.

"What she said," Jeremy says to Joe, smiling sideways at Bonnie.

Joe makes a little scrunched up angry face that tells Jeremy that if he ever decides to get into acting, he's going to need to take some lessons first. A lot of lessons, probably.

He can't even sell actual anger.

"I wonder which one of you they'll kill tonight, and which one they'll kill tomorrow," Joe says matter-of-factly. "I do love the back to back kills. They're fun."

"We have different ideas of fun," Jeremy says, and he tries to ignore the ringing in his head from when they hit him with something. He's pretty sure he's bleeding, but he'll be fine.

"Come on, Jer," Bonnie says. "Maybe he doesn't get out much. It's a rough line of work."

"I don't know," Jeremy hmms a bit. "He just seems like a run of the mill dick to me."

Jeremy looks around the room, trying to see if there's a weak spot.

There's not much there--the chains that keep them tied to the wall, no windows, one door.

Jeremy thinks the chains look a little old, so there's a possibility they could tear them right out of the wall with enough strength.

Of course, Joe is sitting right in front of them with a shotgun, so they probably wouldn't make it far, assuming the others are close by like Joe says they are.

"So, Joey," Bonnie says. "How many more people have to die?"

"Stop calling me Joey," Joe says, frowning. "I'm not a kid."

Jeremy shares a look with Bonnie and shrugs.

"You kind of look like one," Bonnie says, scrunching her nose up and smiling slightly. "Sorry." It doesn't take a genius to know that she's not sorry.

"So, how many?" Jeremy presses.

"I forget what number we're on," Joe shrugs. "About a hundred altogether, and then it's magic and demons all the time. It'll be awesome."

"That seems like a lot of death," Bonnie says. "And that doesn't bother you?"

Joe frowns. For a moment, Jeremy almost expects him to show some semblance of humanity. "No," he says. "Their deaths will not be in vain." He meets Bonnie's gaze. "Neither will yours, or your friend's. They'll give us great power. We'll reshape the world. More will die, but it's survival of the fittest." He sounds like a brochure for the apocalypse, and it's clear he drank the kool-aid.

"I don't think that's what Darwin meant," Jeremy says.

Joe shrugs. "Doesn't matter what he meant. Only what happens next."

~~

Jeremy in the middle of a circle inside of grocery store. He's surrounded by robed figures, and he's naked and trapped.

He's completely immobile. They shot him up with something in a syringe before taking him here. Bonnie's tied and gagged in the back of the van they drove here in. They're probably afraid to lose her with the sacrifice days so close together.

He's pretty sure he's going to die today.

Hopefully, everyone will find Bonnie and save her, stop these guys, and stop these ritual killings from unleashing demon hell on earth.

But today, Jeremy is going to die. He's thinking back to the countless opportunities he's had to tell Tyler how he felt.

He could have done it, but he waited too long. He could have said it the day that they joked about Tyler being his sugar daddy without benefits. He could have said it the day they left Mystic Falls. Or the day that they moved into this place, and Tyler looked at them and declared them to be pack, and Jeremy literally could not take his eyes off of Tyler all night.

He could have said it earlier tonight, when Tyler asked if it was important enough to say right then.

Maybe it wasn't--but now, it really feels like it might have been.

But that could just be the closeness to death talking. That fear, that sense that the end is near.

Jeremy has died before, but there's not going to be a chance to come back this time. There are no sacrifices for him, and no magic rings.

Just Jeremy, here, waiting for the end.

A robed, chanting figure steps forward with a knife. First, the figure closes Jeremy's eyes. He guesses that's nice. At least he doesn't have to die with painfully dry eyes.

Then the figure starts cutting him. He can't move, but he can feel it. He can't scream out in pain, but eventually he blacks out. A mercy, he thinks.

He drifts in and out of consciousness. It feels like hours pass as he starts to circle the drain.

~~

"Jeremy--" he hears. "Jeremy, wake up." He knows that voice, he thinks.

He can't say anything, but he's starting to feel like he might be able to grunt, and so he does.

"You're going to be okay," Tyler tells him.

Jeremy is covered in his own blood, and every inch of him is screaming in pain.

"Here--" he hears, and Josh shoves his bloody wrist into Jeremy's mouth.

~~

Jeremy wakes up in the car. "Did you get them all?" He turns his head to see Tyler.

"Yeah," Tyler tells him gently from right next to him. He's practically cradling Jeremy, which is causing a lot of conflicting emotions right now. "We got 'em all. And Bonnie's fine. We're all fine. Scott's pack, and all of us--we're all fine. No one died. We're all--" Tyler sighs. "We're okay."

"I'm glad it's over," Jeremy says.

"Yeah," Tyler says softly. "Me too."

Jeremy looks toward the front of the car and sees Josh driving, and Aiden in the passenger seat.

He turns back to Tyler, and decides to go for it.

"I love you," he says. Then, because there's still a little coward in him, he looks away immediately. "Hey, can we get milkshakes?"

"It's 5 AM," Aiden says, but then he nods. "Of course."

"Sounds awesome," Josh says, and it's clear they've both decided to pretend that they didn't hear his little love declaration. He loves them both.

Tyler doesn't say anything now, just sits quietly, his arm still wrapped around Jeremy.

It''s a little awkward, but Jeremy's been up all night. He closes his eyes, and doesn't open them until he's being handed a strawberry milkshake.

~~

"Liv spelled them, so they shouldn't be able to use their powers. We can hand them over to a coven for justice, or we can try to take their magic and send them to prison," Josh explains to Jeremy. "Bonnie voted for a prison world."

They walk up to the house together. Tyler and Aiden are a little ahead, so they leave the door open.

"We decided to go with witch justice," Tyler says when Josh and Jeremy walk in a few seconds later. "We did a little research, and figured out they were cast out of their coven. This just seemed like the safest option."

"Sure," Jeremy says. He's exhausted, and the sugar from the milkshake has not really helped. Vampire blood does not negate the need to sleep.

"We're going to head to bed," Aiden says, and he gives Tyler a look. Josh looks over at them nervously, before he nods his agreement and follows Aiden to their bedroom.

Jeremy is thinking about the stairs to the second floor where his room is. Fuck.

He looks at the couch. Someone will come barrelling in and wake him up. Damn it.

"You can sleep in my bed," Tyler says. He seems a little shifty, but Jeremy's pretty sure that's because Jeremy told him he loved him.

He didn't really do the important lead up, or explain exactly what he meant. Tyler could be thinking anything right now, which is going to suck later.

Or, he thinks, now. Rip the bandaid off. "I meant what I said," Jeremy says. "I love you. But I didn't really explain what I meant." He looks over at Tyler, who is standing awkwardly in the middle of the living room, clearly unsure what to do.

"I'm your alpha," Tyler says. "And your friend. Your--your family. And you're my family. You don't have to explain."

"I do though," Jeremy says, and he forces himself to maintain eye contact. "I'm in love with you. And I have been for a while. It's cool if you don't feel the same way. But I almost died, so--"

Tyler's eyes widen at the mention of Jeremy almost dying, and he gets that look that he gets when anything happens to any of them.

But also--Tyler steps forward. "I didn't say that."

Jeremy nods. "Okay."

Tyler doesn't say anything, just stares back at Jeremy.

"So,"Jeremy says. "What are you going to say?"

"I've never been very good at this," Tyler says. "But I--" Tyler takes a deep breath. "I'm in love with you too."

"Oh," Jeremy says. "Awesome."

Tyler looks a little confused for a moment, but then Jeremy closes the distance between them and kisses him, and he's pretty sure that clears things up.

"We really need to sleep," Jeremy says when he pulls away to breathe. "But I definitely want to continue this conversation."

Tyler smiles. "I think that could be arranged."

They head to Tyler's bedroom, and climb into the bed together, and Jeremy falls asleep before he has the chance to second guess anything.

~~

When he wakes up, he's spooning Tyler.

Tyler snores, by the way, which is has always been funny to tease him about.

But now, it's kind of cute.

Jeremy starts to wonder if this is all real, if--

"Stop thinking so loud," Tyler says suddenly. "I love you too. You don't have to question it."

Jeremy feels full and happy, like his little makeshift family has always made him. But now, it's like there's an extra room in his heart, filed to the brim with hope and love.

It's sappy, but it's nice.

"Why didn't you say something?" Jeremy asks. "If you loved me too."

Tyler is quiet for a moment. "There always seems to be a reason," Tyler says. "They seemed to be important then, but--"

"Now they don't," Jeremy finishes. "Me too."

Tyler turns over to face Jeremy. "I'm sorry."

"Me too," Jeremy says again, this time softly.

But things will be different now.

~~

The McCall pack can throw a party too, it seems.

To celebrate the lives they've saved, and acknowledge the lives that were lost, they do what normal college students do--they make speeches, and drink too much.

At one point Jeremy watches as Scott grabs Stiles's hand, and he smiles for them.

Jeremy snuggles in a little closer to Tyler on the couch and just watches the packs do body shots.

"Are you happy?" Tyler asks him softly.

"Yeah," Jeremy says. "I am."

"Me too," Tyler says.

Jeremy has never been happier about the path that his life has taken. He thinks about the voicemail he got from Elena earlier that day, and thinks he'll start thinking of a really awesome engagement gift.

For a while, he thinks, he'll enjoy how full his life feels. They've all lost so much, and they deserve this happiness for as long as possible.

Jeremy looks around at his friends and family, and hopes it lasts a long time.


End file.
